BARD-funded Workshops 2022

 

Experts from the U.S and Israel will meet to identify research needs in areas of new development. They wish to define directions in and opportunities for contemporary agricultural needs. They will also provide the information needed to address key agricultural policy issues.

 

Spring 2022 at Cornell in partnership with the Hebrew university

“Food Security Strategies for a Changing World” Led by: Prof. Chris Barrett, Cornell University and Ayal Kimhi, Hebrew University

The purpose of the workshop is to advance evidence-based understanding of how best governments, companies and private non-profits can address looming food security challenges in Israel, the United States, and the world more broadly. Population and income growth will fuel substantial expansion in food demand in the years ahead, while climate change and biodiversity loss will underscore the sustainability challenges of supply expansion that follow a business-as-usual model.

At the same time, sharp expansion in global food insecurity arising from the economic disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have laid bare inequities within and among countries that imperil food security advances. The workshop is intended for a multidisciplinary, academic audience as well as for public and private sector officials.

 

Fall 2022  Israel Agricultural Research Organization (ARO) and the University of Arizona on “Understanding and mitigating effects of treated wastewater reuse in agriculture: From risks to policy and new opportunities” Led by: Dr. Eddie Cytryn, ARO and Prof Jean E. McLain university of Arizona

The aim of this three-day international symposium is to underline public health, environmental and agronomic challenges associated with wastewater reuse and to highlight solutions to overcome these challenges. Specifically, the symposium will bring together scientists, technology developers, stakeholders and policy makers from academia, industry, and governmentin Israel, the United States, and the European Union, to identify risks associated with treated wastewater (TWW) irrigation, to share knowledge related to the advantages and risks of wastewater reuse, and to develop policy and explore novel technologies to minimize these risks. The workshop will highlight cutting-edge technologies and will provide platforms for training students and for introducing young researchers to the wastewater reuse community.

 

Fall 2022 at Hebrew university in partnership with Cornell on:

 “Insect reproductive molecules and their mechanisms: bringing new tools and ideas for agriculture” Led by Dr. Yael Heifetz, The Hebrew University, Israel and Dr. Mariana Wolfner, Cornell University

This workshop aims to bring together scientists who study molecules and physiological processes that mediate insect reproduction, from both basic and applied perspectives. An important and unique aspect of the workshop is that it will bring together experts on male reproductive tracts (focused on identity, functions, regulation and evolution of seminal proteins that are transferred with sperm to females during mating, with experts on female reproductive tracts (focused on its physiology and on the identity, function, and evolution of its molecules.

Furthermore, the workshop also aims to bring together these perspectives with ones on innovative tools to control insect pests/invasive pests that cause serious crop damage worldwide. Among the latter, the workshop will devote a session to Drosophila suzukii, a relative of the organism on which the basic work is done, to highlight advances in the field and reassess open fundamental questions in pest control.